⁷ being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude. (Colossians 2:7 CSB)

We have four words today that should be core to our faith life.

Our faith must be rooted in Christ. Everything begins and ends here. All that we say and do must proceed from the indwelling spirit of Christ. This may seem a tall order, but it should be our foundation, even when we are not perfect in it. Humble acceptance of our weakness makes us strong in Christ.

We must be built up on the scriptures. The Bible is our guide book. Many today want to tear it down, call it simple stories. But when we take scriptural truths and apply them to our lives, we begin to build up from the strong foundation of Christ the framework of our faith. In this too we can build others up. On these two things everything proceeds.

We are to be established in the faith. As the foundation of our faith becomes well rooted in Christ and we are built up by scripture, we become established in our faith. When one is considered established they are recognized by a pattern of behavior and often sought as a source of knowledge or truth.

And we should be overflowing with love and grace. Overflow comes from being filled completely, so that what we have spills over into the lives of others. What we have cannot be contained. Our joy is complete and we simply have to tell others why we are so filled.

In these things our faith life becomes an unshakable force.